Hi everyone,
It's time for me to discuss the eleventh issue of Marvel's first Star Wars series. The cover depicted Luke Skywalker trying to defend his companions, R2-D2 and C-3PO, from a large snake, as the trio stood in a vessel that was in a body of water. The tale was titled "Star Search!" The issue had a cover date of May 1978.
The story began in space, as the Millennium Falcon was just leaving Aduba-3. Its pilots, Han Solo and Chewbacca, had just finished defending native farmers from a marauding group of pirates and a large monster. Solo recounted the losses of his comrades, Effie and Hedji, who were suffered during the conflict. Han decided that their next best course of action was to return to the Rebel base on Yavin 4.
After the Falcon exited hyperspace, the duo noticed a Star Destroyer right in their path. However, they recognized this vessel as the one commandeered by Crimson Jack (whom Solo and Chewie ran into back in issue #7). Han decided to play along and let the Falcon be taken via tractor beam.
Once inside the captured Imperial vessel, the heroes saw another familiar face, belonging to Leia Organa. She'd left Yavin in search of Luke and his droids, who had gone missing in their search for a new world that could host the Alliance, and evidently became a prisoner of these mercenaries who had recently stolen the reward Han and Chewie had earned for transporting its passengers from the Death Star.
The Correllian and his first mate soon engaged in a brief laser battle. Solo mentioned an offer that opened Jack's ears and was enough for him to end the hostilities and hear what he had to say. Han explained that his reward had been obtained from the Rebel treasury and got Leia to play along. The princess went on to say that their treasury was in the Drexel system, hoping that the pirate would get the hint and set a course for the system that Luke and company had last reported from.
Jack took the bait and ordered his helmsman to set a course for the Drexel system. Han and Chewie stayed in the captain's quarters, while Leia was led to a cell by Jack's associate, Jolli. Jolli seemed to be a bit jealous of the (faux) affection that Han and Leia had shown each other, and lashed out at her prisoner before tossing her into a cell.
Leia wasn't offended. Her thoughts went back to Skywalker and his mission. She was determined to continue the search for the man who destroyed the Death Star, no matter what it took.
While Han was computing the route, Luke, Artoo, and Threepio found themselves under attack from a large creature. Their ship had crashed into the sea of the planet below, from which the monster rose. Luke's blaster pistol had little impact on their foe, who lunged for another blow. Artoo found the ship's escape pod, and the trio jetted off several yards away.
The monster seemed to lose interest after the ship's inhabitants had disappeared. Luke used his scope to investigate. He soon found that the creature was being approached by another humanoid astride a green sea alien.
This was the beginning of writer /editor Archie Goodwin and penciler Carmine Infantino's run on the book. I was never a big fan of Carmine's work, mainly because the weapons and technological items he drew were far from how they'd been envisioned in the movies. Critics also said that he made R2-D2 look fat, which I can understand and agree with. Goodwin came up with some wacky stories, and I guess it made sense for him to put the farmboy from Tatooine on a world that was almost entirely water on the surface. I was happy to see more of Crimson Jack and his crew. His popularity remained for decades, and he was even featured briefly in one of the series after Marvel reacquired the Star Wars license in 2015.
That's all for now. Next time, I'll cover the twelfth issue of this run. We'll find out who the mysterious dragon rider was, and meet more supporting characters on Drexel. We'll also find out what happened when Jack's ship reached the system. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
No comments:
Post a Comment